Opinion
Let’s talk menopause
BY CLAIR WHITTY October is menopause awareness month and it’s great to see that there is so much conversation about it. I love that men are talking about it now too. In the past year I have spoken to more men about it than I have in the past twenty. They are trying to understand …
How Budget underscores Government’s commitment
BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR Finance Minister Michael McGrath with Minister for Public Expenditure Pascal Donohoe have announced a €14 Billion Package with tax breaks, housing relief, and more. In this article I want to highlight some of the areas that have been affected in the Budget package which was aimed at providing significant relief …
James Stephens The Kilkenny man who founded the Fenians
BY JOHN FITZGERALD Part 2 Continuing the story of James Stephens…the American Fenians became disenchanted with him. It was another of those splits that have bedeviled Irish republicanism through the ages. Oblivious of the fact that it was dissension and infighting within the Fenian movement in the U.S. that had delayed arms shipments for the …
Why the attack by Hamas was perfectly timed
COMMENT: PAUL HOPKINS As the onslought between Israel and Palestine continues, Israel is facing rising domestic political division, growing violence in the West Bank and delicate negotiations among Israel, Saudi Arabia and the US. The slaughter of Israelis at a festival by Palestine’s Hamas seems deliberately timely. Hamas claims it was taking revenge for a …
Euthanasia debate needs some serious thought
THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS Swiss organisation Dignitas has called on Ireland to change the law on assisted dying – a debate growing here since 2018. Dignitas, which supports voluntary assisted dying, told a recent hearing of the Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying, set up last January, that it had 100 Irish …
Autumn, season of mists; moderate AND mangy questions!
FURTHERMORE By Gerry Moran Right then, a wee quiz to shake up the brain cells before they, along with the hedgehogs, go into hibernation for the winter. Fifty questions. Quiz rating: 25 – 30 Fair. 30 – 40 Good. 40 – 45 Very Good. 45 plus – Excellent. You’re definitely a bright, very bright, spark. …
Art, heavenly music, and women of distinction…
BY JOHN FITZGERALD September witnessed a countywide flowering of arts and culture. The finest of singers, artists and topnotch lecturers once again highlighted Kilkenny’s primacy, and irresistible attraction, as a creative hub. I went along to some of these. First, I stepped into Callan’s Church of the Assumption to listen to the Cois Nore Choir; …
James Stephens The Kilkenny man who founded the Fenians
BY JOHN FITZGERALD PART ONE One of those wounded in the infamous Ballingarry skirmish was a young Kilkenny man, James Stephens. Born and educated in the Marble City, Stephens was a railways civil engineer when he joined the ill-fated Young Ireland movement. After the abortive uprising, he fled to France with another activist, John O’Mahony, …
‘What is the stars, Gerry? What is the stars?’
FURTHERMORE By Gerry Moran “Space, the final frontier, these are the voyages of the star ship Enterprise, its five-year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” This introduction began every episode of the original Star Trek series which I …
Budget must look to rising childcare costs
BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR The Irish economy has overcome a raft of challenges it faced in the past three years. May 2023 saw a reduction in the unemployment rate to 3.8%, surpassing the pre-pandemic level of 4.8% recorded in February 2020. Recent data for May 2023 indicates an impressive surge in tax receipts, reaching …
